Tokio's Wedding
by omasuoniwabanshi
Summary: Pre-wedding jitters? Saitoh? Never! Tokio on the other hand...Though this is a sequel, you don't need to have read "In The Wolves' Den" to understand it. Pure fluff! Complete. Please R
1. Default Chapter

A/N: This story is for Ladywater2010, WolfDaughter, Larie-chan, and Finick01 who requested a sequel, and for Jecir and Sai Orlianna who specifically wanted a wedding. As for Senaca, I'll try to work in the soba noodles, but I don't think Saitoh picked up the nasty western cigarette habit until well after the Battle of Toba Fushima and the shogun's abdication.

Personal note to anonymous reviewer # 29337423 who informed me that I "suck". I may be many things – untalented, lazy, a bad speller, or careless with plot details, but I am NOT a vacuum cleaner. I suggest you invest in a copy of Partridge's Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English where you may find inspirations for truly creative insults that go beyond the schoolyard level of name-calling. Until such time, I will be deleting your rather unimaginative flame, assuming ffdotnet still allows authors to do that. Is anybody else out there irritated with the new changes?

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin characters or plot.

CHAPTER ONE

Tokio sat on the porch outside Okita's room. The large Buddhist temple which served as Shinsengumi headquarters was a beautiful old building, and spacious enough to provide all its captains with separate rooms.

Okita's room was only a few doors down from Tokio's fiancee's room. But Tokio wasn't there today to see Saitoh. She was there to see Okita.

"So you see my problem." she finished and looked at the boy expectantly.

Okita's face crinkled in a sunny smile. "Yes, of course I do, but Tokio-san, I'm not sure what you expect me to do about it. Unless you want me to go shopping for you…" he trailed off uncertainly.

"No, no. That would defeat the purpose." Tokio sighed and slumped sideways against the post which held the protruding temple roof over the porch. "Ever since I heard about this western custom of exchanging wedding gifts, I just knew I had to get something special for Saitoh. The problem is, I don't know what he wants."

She glanced over at Okita. "Do you?"

Okita blinked and laughed. "What Saitoh wants? That's a tough question! If he ever needs something he tends to go out and buy it right away, but as for what he wants…He wants you, of course, Tokio-san."

Tokio smiled on the outside, but on the inside she blanched. Her marriage had been arranged by Saitoh's boss, Kondo, and her grandfather. Even though she was completely happy with the arrangement, she wasn't totally sure that Saitoh was. After all, he'd never actually said how he felt about it.

"Tokio?"

She started and realized that Okita had been talking. "I'm sorry, I missed that. What did you say?"

Okita laughed again. "Distracted by thoughts of Saitoh, I see. It must be nice to be in love, and think about your future."

A shadow passed over his face, so quickly that Tokio wasn't sure she'd seen it. Then the old familiar Okita smile was back in place, and he was beaming at her so genuinely, that she decided not to comment.

"Well, there won't be a future if there isn't a wedding, and there won't be a wedding unless I can find Saitoh a gift."

Tokio was pinning all her hopes on this gift. If she could just get him the perfect gift, something that would prove that she'd thought about it long and hard, then maybe he would deem her worthy of him.

He was so very hard to read. He didn't like to talk much, and rarely gave anything away. She supposed it was part of being a Shinsengumi captain. Yet Okita was a captain and he was the happiest, most helpful person she knew. Which is why she'd come to him.

"Then I will do whatever I can to help you find a gift." said Okita. He paused, then asked curiously, "What can I do?"

Tokio leaned forward. "Tell me what Saitoh admires. Surely there's something, some quality he admires more than anything else."

Okita nodded thoughtfully, setting his bangs shifting across his forehead. Tokio had to subdue a motherly urge to lean forward and comb them back into place with her fingers.

She knew that Okita was a skillful swordsman and an excellent captain, but he still looked like a young boy, and he reminded her of the neighbor kids she used to watch for their parents.

"Strength," Okita said suddenly, decisively. His eyes were half closed in concentration as he gazed across the side garden in front of the porch. "and honor. Definitely honor." He went on softly, "Above all, don't get him anything soft or effeminate. He really hates that sort of stuff. He needs people to be strong."

Tokio's heart dropped. That's what Saitoh admired? She did a quick self assessment. She was none of those things. Strong and honorable? She thought with an inward wince of the way she and Saitoh had met. He'd caught her breaking into Shinsengumi headquarters. That wasn't very honorable at all. And strength? She was really good at doing household chores – she'd had to be since she and grandfather had no servants – but the sort of strength it took to use a katana? Tokio looked down at her slim arms and skinny wrists dispiritedly. Sinking back onto her haunches, she let her kimono sleeves fall back over her arms to hide them.

"So how are the wedding preparations going?" she asked brightly, changing the subject. "I can't thank Kondo-san and Hijikata-san enough for hosting the reception. Have they decided where to put it yet?"

"Oh, ah…" Okita hemmed and hawed adorably for a while, then flashed her a bright smile. "You see, the thing is, Kondo and Hijikata are pretty hopeless at arranging social events so they delegated the job to Shinpachi."

"Oh." Wasn't that the captain that Saitoh thought was an utter fool? Of course, Saitoh thought a lot of people were fools, Tokio reminded herself.

"It'll be fine! I'm keeping an eye on Shinpachi, and he says he's found an inn with a great cook not too far from the shrine where you're going to get married. In fact, he told me where it is. Do you want to go see it?"

Tokio nodded. Anything to get her mind off of the impossible task of finding the perfect gift, of being the perfect woman, for Saitoh.

Okita jumped to his feet. "Just let me change out of my Shinsengumi uniform and I'll be ready to go." He dashed inside his room and closed the shoji screen behind him.

Whipping out the handkerchief tucked in his gi, he barely made it to his face before the coughing began.

Doubled over, he muffled it as best he could until the coughing subsided.

"Okita, are you alright?" Tokio's voice came anxiously from outside.

"I'm fine. I think I swallowed a gnat!" he laughingly called back to her. His smile faded as he looked at the red stains on his handkerchief. He was still coughing up blood. At least it was no more than the last attack. His tuberculosis was progressing inexorably, and there was nothing the doctor could do to stop it.

He couldn't let Tokio know. She was such a soft-hearted person. It would probably ruin her wedding day.

Saitoh knew.

At least Okita thought he did. They never spoke of it. The last thing Okita ever wanted was for the man he looked up to almost as much as Kondo and Hijikata, to see him as weak, or a burden.

Though Okita loved to tease Saitoh and poke fun at him, he didn't do it out of meanness. Saitoh was so rigidly determined to wipe out evil that he forgot to be happy. That was why Okita had worked so hard from behind the scenes to maneuver the lone wolf into marriage. Saitoh thought that it was Kondo's idea that he marry Tokio, when in actual fact Okita had asked Kondo to force Saitoh to marry her.

Okita had never seen Saitoh be jealous or territorial until he'd met Tokio. Being Saitoh, he was too stubborn to admit he liked her, so Okita gave the couple a push.

Time was far too precious to waste. He wanted Saitoh and Tokio to have a full lifetime together.

Wadding up the handkerchief, he tossed it in the basket of laundry in the corner of his room, shrugged out of his haori jacket and bounced out of the room to rejoin Tokio.

The inn was quite a walk away, and uphill too. Tokio was breathless by the time they made it to the top. Okita marched cheerfully along beside her, pointing out objects of interest.

He seemed to find joy in the simplest of things – a gnarled cherry tree shaped like a squid, a shop selling bright paper lanterns, even the clacking sound a group of giggling matrons made as they walked down the street in their noisy wooden geta sandals.

In such company, Tokio couldn't help but cheer up a little.

The innkeeper, a fussy looking middle-aged man, slightly bow-legged, met them at the doorway, and ushered them into a large square room that served as the inn's central dining area. By the sound of the pots and pans clashing at the far end, Tokio guessed that the shoji screen back there led to the kitchen.

"Good day, I'm Okita shouji and this is Tokio Takagi. We're hear to see about the arrangements for Tokio and Saitoh-san's wedding reception."

"Ah, yes." said the innkeeper, tapping his chin with his finger. "Another young gentleman was here a few days ago to arrange it. It's to be a little over a week, isn't it?"

"Almost two weeks." Offered Tokio shyly. In almost two weeks she would be Saitoh's bride.

The innkeeper smiled. "You must be very excited to marry such a wonderful…er, what does your husband to be do exactly?"

Okita started drifting towards the kitchen and the smell of grilling fish. "Oh, he's a captain in the Shinsengumi, like me." He threw over his shoulder as he wandered toward the food.

Because he was already halfway across the room, he missed the innkeeper's reaction. The man's jaw dropped and his eyes bulged out. "Sh…sh…shinsengumi?" he whispered in a horror-stricken tone.

Tokio looked at the man sympathetically. That was how she'd felt about the dreaded shogunate police squad until she'd met Saitoh and came to know him.

She leaned forward conspiratorially and whispered to the stricken innkeeper, "It's alright, Okita is the nice shinsengumi captain. The mean one, Serizawa, is dead."

Mouth still open, the innkeeper turned to her and stared, obviously not convinced.

Tokio smiled, patted his arm and walked past him into the kitchen where Okita stood and inhaled through his nose, a blissful smile on his face.

"Can I help you?" asked one of the kitchen maids, pushing a strand of hair back under her headscarf as she stirred something in a simmering pot of water.

"We're here to see the cook about a wedding reception menu." Okita told her.

The maidservant and another girl exchanged looks. "Oh yes, the cook has been wanting to speak to someone about that." She said grimly. Taking her wooden spoon out of the pot, she used it to point to an open doorway leading to the inn's back courtyard. "He's out back."

Okita bowed politely and led Tokio out of the kitchen.

The courtyard was half garden, half storage area. Two of the inn's guests, old men, were sunning themselves on a porch connected to the back wall of the inn next to some desultory looking shrubs. One of the guests sat up when Okita came by and asked him if he thought 'Go' was a good game for teaching young folks strategy. Smiling apologetically at Tokio, Okita left her side to reply to the man.

A man, presumably the cook, was at the back fence by some pens and boxes, talking to a strikingly beautiful girl. She wore a pale kimono with a long blue scarf draped gracefully over her shoulders. In her arms she carried several black lacquer trays, which matched her midnight black hair, pulled back with a blue ribbon low on her neck.

The cook, a squat ugly man in a stained apron, pointed at the inn and turned his back on her. The girl nodded and began to cross the courtyard. As she did, a gate in the back fence opened, and two men walked in, talking.

No, Tokio decided, not two men, but a man and a boy. The man was tall like Saitoh but there the resemblance ended. This man slouched and there was something shady about him. He lacked Saitoh's firm sense of purpose. The boy had the oddest shade of hair she'd ever seen. It was red, so red that it was almost black, but when the afternoon sun hit it there were undeniable glints of red in it.

The boy stopped when he saw the lovely girl walking past him. She shot him a glance from her almond shaped eyes, set in a face with perfect alabaster skin, and would have kept going, but he stopped her with a question.

"What are you doing here?"

The question was graceless, and the boy seemed to know it, for he paused, abashed that he'd said anything.

"Okami-san sent me to loan these trays to Inui-san. He's hosting a wedding reception here next week." The girl replied calmly then walked on.

"A wedding?" the boy repeated doubtfully, as though he wasn't sure what the word meant.

"Yes. People do get married, you know." the girl said as she continued to walk gracefully across the courtyard without turning.

The boy pivoted quickly on his heel and pushed the gate open.

"Hey, I thought you were coming with me to talk to Inui," the taller man called after the retreating boy.

"Do it yourself, Iizuka." came his cold response as he fled.

Tokio hid a smile. Whoever that boy was, he was completely stuck on the girl. Tokio couldn't help it. As the girl came close, her amused smile burst out.

The girl looked at her and allowed her own lips to curve gently upward in response as she passed Tokio and took the trays to the kitchen.

Okita bounded back to her side. "Shall we go?"

The tall, shady looking man broke off his conversation with the cook and left as they came up.

"I understand you're going to be cooking the meal for the wedding reception next week?" Okita asked.

The cook turned a pinched, irritated look at Okita and Tokio. "Yes, your friend what's-his-name, Shuichi? He already arranged the menu. That's my problem." He glared.

"What do you mean?" asked Okita.

"Look!" The cook pointed down into the pen built next to the fence. A medium sized pig was lying in the dirt, panting in the afternoon heat.

"It's a pig." commented Okita blankly.

"Of course it's a pig! Your friend Shuichi…"

"Shinpachi" Okita corrected him quickly.

The cook rolled his eyes. "Shinpachi. Whatever. He wants this pork dish from Edo where you have to feed the stupid pig lotus blossoms and ginger root for a week before you slaughter it. The pig is supposed to be a young one so the meat will be tender."

"So?" Okita's eyes mirrored his puzzlement. "Isn't the pig young enough?"

"That's just it!" growled the cook. I ordered a YOUNG pig from the pig farm and they messed up and sent me a pig with young!"

"Huh?"

"The pig is pregnant! They won't take her back because they said the weird diet had ruined her for any other customers. Kyoto country folk don't approve of weird Edo ways. So now I'm stuck with a pregnant pig, and everyone knows it's bad luck to slaughter a pregnant pig!"

"It is?"

"Of course it is! It's like spitting near a rice merchant's wife. Your rice won't cook right for a week afterwards." The cook's face was getting red. "Do you know nothing about cooking? If I slaughter a pregnant pig I'll have bad luck for weeks."

"Uh, Mr. Cook? I don't think that will be a problem much longer." Tokio had been staring, fascinated into the pen. At her words the cook leaned back over the pen and bit back a curse. "I think your pig is having babies."

Okita watched the proceedings with Tokio while the cook ranted and raved.

"What will you do with the extra pigs?" Okita asked him at last, more to quiet him down than from actual interest.

Tokio didn't like the look of avarice that crossed the man's face as he leaned over the fence counting the babies.

"Pickle them and sell them in jars." the cook said triumphantly.

Tokio made a sound of distress. How could he talk of pickling them when they'd just been born? She knew it happened all the time on farms, but Tokio was a city girl. She'd never seen anything but the neighbor's dog give birth before. When half the litter turned out stillborn, she'd cried.

Hearing the sound, Okita stared up at the cook. "But doesn't this pig belong to Saitoh and Tokio? For the reception?"

A hard look came over the cook's face. "Shinpachi ordered the Edo dish, not the pig itself. I know my rights. The pig is mine. You only get the parts I need to make the recipe. Come on. I'll show you the contract."

Reluctantly, Okita followed the cook to the kitchen.

Tokio glanced back over the side of the pen. Poor mother pig! Not only was she going to lose her piglets, she was going to be turned into Shinpachi's favorite dish. Tokio resolved not to eat any of it.

Wait, what was that? Another pig was being born, one the cook missed. It was so tiny, and the mother didn't seem interested in it.

A quick glance around the courtyard revealed that the two old men on the porch were arguing loudly and not looking her way.

Tokio hefted her stomach onto the top rail of the pen, reached in and snagged the baby. Shoving it into her kimono top, she fled through the back gate. The neighbor's dog had just given birth in an abandoned shed on grandfather's property. She'd give the pig to the dog to nurse.

Okita wouldn't mind walking home alone, she rationalized. Now, which alley led back to the street? After a few false starts, Tokio found an alley that led back to the main street and began her journey home.

Okita came out of the front door of the inn after learning from the two old men that Tokio had gone out the back gate. Unable to find her in the maze of alleys, he went back out the front of the inn just in time to see her rush past on the opposite side of the street.

Mouth agape he noticed her bosom. Tokio had a very nice bosom, not that Okita allowed himself to dwell on it now that she was Saitoh's fiancée, but right now her bosom was doing some rather interesting things. As she passed, he saw a tiny pink snout flick out of her neckline.

Mouth quirking, Okita waited until Tokio was out of earshot before bursting into laughter. Ignoring the curious glances of pedestrians, he made his way back to Shinsengumi headquarters alone.

A/N Sorry, I don't know of any Japanese pork recipes that call for feeding the pig lotus root and ginger, so I can't give anyone the recipe. Besides, who could bear to feed and house a pig for a week without getting attached to it? I made it up for the purposes of the story, though I did read somewhere that in the South, pigs are fed solely on peanuts in order to make the meat tender. I also made up the cook's superstitious beliefs.

**And by the way, yes, that was a brief cameo appearance by Kenshin and Tomoe, but they won't be a part of the central plot. It was a sheer indulgence on my part since I mentioned that the Ikedaya Incident had already happened by the time of my "In The Wolves' Den" story, so by this story Kenshin and Tomoe would have been gone from Kyoto.**


	2. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin characters or plot.

Saitoh shoveled more soba noodles into his mouth by deftly maneuvering his chopsticks with a steady hand. Like swordplay, eating soba noodles correctly required skill.

Not one noodle was lost to the ground or the front of Saitoh's nondescript brown haori jacket. He was undercover today. Yamazaki Susumu, the Shinsengumi Head of Spies, was off visiting Aizu with Kondo and Hijikata. Shimada, the Shinsengumi spy who usually met with informants, was out sick with the flu. That left Saitoh to take the report.

At least Shimada had the foresight to set up meetings in a crowded noodle bar. Saitoh allowed the slightly nutty flavor of the buckwheat noodles to dissolve on his tongue. He hoped Tokio knew how to cook soba noodles. If not, he'd have to teach her. He imagined them both in the kitchen, his hand guiding hers as they stirred the noodles with a chopstick once they rose to the surface of the boiling water…

"Saitoh-san?" A man dressed in day-laborer's clothes sat on the stool next to Saitoh and spoke to his noodle bowl, without looking up.

Good. The spy wasn't a complete idiot. "Yes." Saitoh acknowledged, also without looking up.

"We've narrowed down the area where the Ishin Shishi rebels are hiding out. We have the right district, and we think it's either a brothel or an inn. There may be more than one in that area. Their numbers keep growing."

'Just like the cockroach population,' thought Saitoh.

"Which is it, one hideout or two? Brothel or inn?" he asked in a low voice as he raised his bowl to sip at the liquid remaining in it.

"Unknown. We're still looking into it."

He'd come all the way out here for this? The safehouse MAY be a brothel or an inn? There MIGHT be one or two? What sort of a spy network did Yamazuki run? Obviously his spies didn't have the self-discipline of true Shinsengumi members.

"Next time come to me with facts or don't come at all." snarled Saitoh, irritated at the inefficiency. He set his bowl down on the counter with unnecessary force, and swept out of the noodle bar, glaring at the pedestrians outside, who quickly got out of his way.

If it hadn't been for this stupid waste of time of an assignment, he could have taken Tokio out to dinner. Kondo and Hijikata piled extra duties on him before they left to make up for giving him the several days off scheduled after his wedding. It didn't leave a lot of time for courting her. In a genuinely foul mood, Saitoh made his way back to Shinsengumi headquarters, stalking through the streets of Kyoto like an angry wolf.

o-o-o

"Grandfather!" Tokio started, and shoved the piglet behind the mother dog lying on a blanket in the back of the ruined shed. Three small, rowdy balls of fur gamboled around the shed near their mother. Tokio had been tickling the piglet when her grandfather showed up.

"Tokio-chan." Her grandfather replied, his eyes uncommonly sharp as he glanced around the shed. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh," she stood up and spread her kimono skirt out a little as though brushing dust off it. It was an excellent excuse for shielding the mother dog, and more importantly, the piglet, from view. "I was just visiting the puppies. I think the neighbor boys will be able to take them home soon."

"See to it." Takagi ordered gruffly. "When Saitoh-san takes you away to be his bride, it won't do to have dogs running wild."

"No, sir." agreed Tokio, edging to her left where the piglet was venturing out past the dog's tail, which was thumping against the floor as she wagged it.

Her grandfather followed Tokio with his eyes, gazing luckily at her face and not the floor.

"Have you decided on a gift for Saitoh-san?"

Tokio looked down at the floor. "Not yet." A small pink snout pushed its way out from under the kimono fabric pooling around her ankles.

Tokio stepped forward, swishing the fabric back over the piglet. "I'm thinking really hard and I know I'll find the perfect gift soon, grandfather!" she said in a rush.

"See that you do. It must be a gift worthy of a samurai." said her grandfather gruffly, and stepped back out of the doorway.

Tokio exhaled and sank to the floor, careful not to sit on the small pig which crawled out from under her skirt, gave her an exasperated look, and went to pounce on one of the puppies.

Laughing gently, she watched them play. The pig was now convinced it was a dog. It even tried to growl like a dog. But Tokio knew that pigs couldn't change into dogs no matter how much they wanted it. Could she change herself into someone Saitoh wanted?

Saitoh valued strength and honor. What if she became strong?

Narrowing her eyes determinedly, Tokio got up off the ground. The oldest of the two neighbor boys had joined a dojo last year and was learning basic sword techniques. If she could just get him to give her a few pointers, she was sure she could learn how to swing a sword, or at least one of those wooden sticks they used. What were they called? Bokken?

Her course of action decided, she marched out of the shed. Finishing sewing her wedding kimono could wait. She had work to do.

o-o-o

Okita wandered up the porch to where Saitoh was sitting crosslegged in the doorway of his room, using ricepaper to oil his katana.

He looked up at the boy's approach and saw that Okita's face was pale and his bangs were plastered to his forehead with sweat. It was a warm day.

Okita's face lit up in a smile and he leaned against the beam supporting the porch's roof. "So, Saitoh-san, how do you like being in charge of the spy ring while Yamazaki is gone?"

"They are inefficient," harrumphed Saitoh, and stared into his blade, seeing Okita's tired expression in the reflection. "As is sending you out on patrol twice in one day."

Okita merely smiled wider. "I don't mind, Saitoh-san. We're short handed with the flu, and at least my two patrols are during daylight. You got stuck patrolling all night, on top of dealing with the informants. Did you get any useful information?"

"From that lot?" growled Saitoh. "I'd be better off doing their job myself."

Okita looked thoughtful. "You probably could, at that. Well, you might think of giving them an easier job, like spying on Tokio."

Saitoh looked up sharply as Okita returned an innocent look. "What's this about Tokio?"

"I just thought you might be curious about how she's doing. You haven't seen much of her lately."

Saitoh gave his sword a last wipe and stuck it in its sheath, relieved that Okita's concern wasn't anything important. "We'll have our whole lives together. What's the point of finding out now?"

Okita blinked. "Well, you see, she's getting you a wedding gift. She was over here a few days ago asking me what you might like in a gift. I was just thinking you might want to ask her what she'd like, so you could get her a gift too."

Ask her? She was to be his wife. Of course she'd like anything he got for her. Wouldn't she? Surely he could find something she'd like.

Perhaps it would be wise to go shopping. He could go shopping with the best of them.

Saitoh got to his feet and pushed back his blue and white uniform haori jacket to shove his sheathed sword through the obi at his waist.

"Saitoh?" Okita questioned.

"I'll be back in time for patrol." Saitoh told him. "If anyone wants me until then they'll have to wait." A competitive light began to glow in his eyes. "I'm going shopping."

o-o-o

Shopping proved to be more difficult than Saitoh anticipated. In his Shinsengumi uniform he tended to inspire more fear than helpfulness from store clerks.

Most of the time they were too busy begging for mercy or trying to get him to take bribes to go away. Saitoh snorted in disgust. Had that objectionable worm, Serizawa Kamo, extorted money from every shopkeeper in Kyoto before the rest of the Shinsengumi eradicated his stain from their ranks?

The other shopkeepers who didn't beg usually just fled, or stood whitefaced and incoherent with fear.

It was the uniform. He realized that because of Serizawa's actions, and the Shinsengumi reputation for ruthlessness, the shopkeepers weren't seeing him when he came to their shops. They saw only the uniform, and reacted accordingly. At any other time, he'd be delighted, but for now it was a nuisance.

Saitoh was about to give up when an incredible smell reached his nose.

He did an abrupt turn and pushing aside the curtain serving as a door, plunged into what turned out to be a perfume store.

Seated on a stool in front of shelves of bottles sat an ancient old lady staring off into space. With a start of surprise, Saitoh realized that she was blind. Her eyes had a milky cast to them that he was used to seeing on corpses, but this woman was very much alive.

"Welcome to my shop, sir." The old woman said in a voice raspy with age. "What can I do for you?"

Saitoh narrowed his eyes. How did she know he was a man? "That scent. What is it?"

The woman's wrinkled face wrinkled still more as it creased into a smile. "The bottle of perfume I just sold was essence of white plum blossom. It's lovely, isn't it?"

"I'll take one of those."

"Oh no sir, I couldn't let you do that."

Saitoh stared. Didn't she know who she was talking to? No one denied the Shinsengumi. Then he caught himself. She couldn't see his uniform. She didn't know. Or did she?

"How did you know I was a man?" he asked, suspicion tingeing his words.

The woman laughed gently. "The sound of your footsteps. You walk like a man, and you're not wearing those noisy geta sandals the girls all seem to wear now-a-days."

Saitoh nodded to himself. It made sense, but the other matter at hand did not. "Why won't you sell me the plum blossom scent?"

"White plum blossom," she corrected gently. "You wouldn't want your woman to wear the same scent as another, would you? All women are unique. They should each have the scent that suits them best. Besides, it's unlucky to sell the same scent twice in one day."

Saitoh was stumped. The woman reminded him a lot of his grandmother. She knew every folk tale, every superstition from miles around. Her whole life was spent muttering charms and propitiating the local spirits, the kami, in order to keep her family safe. Saitoh didn't believe in such nonsense, but he realized the powerful hold it had over others.

"Then what will you sell me?" He'd decided he wanted to get Tokio perfume, so perfume it was. No matter what he had to go through to get it.

"First, you must tell me about this woman of yours. Describe her to me."

Describe her? Stiffening his spine, Saitoh prepared to give his report. "What exactly do you want to know?"

"What does she look like?"

Saitoh frowned. "You're blind." he informed her.

"Yes, I know that." He got the distinct impression she was laughing at him. "I need to hear what you think she looks like."

"She's shorter than me." he glanced uneasily at the blind woman and amended himself. "Medium height."

"Fat or thin?"

"Neither." Saitoh allowed his face to relax in a possessive smile as he recalled holding Tokio in his arms. "She's perfectly shaped. Soft curves. Soft dark hair. Beautiful. Intelligent. Loyal. Gentle. Sweet…"

"Goodness," laughed the woman. "She sounds like a paragon of virtue. Tell me, have you told her this?"

Saitoh frowned. "Why would I tell her what she already knows?"

The woman sighed, much like his grandmother used to when he'd disappointed her as a child. "Women like to be told such things, you know." she informed him gently.

He snorted. Tokio wasn't the sort who needed to be told things. She was bright and intelligent. Hadn't he just said that?

The woman sighed again, this time indulgently. "Well, I think you've told me enough." Sliding off the stool, she put out her hands and patted her way down the shelves until she came to a small glass bottle. Gripping it firmly, she turned around and unstoppered it. "Here. Try this."

Saitoh came forward and took the bottle. Raising it to his nose, he inhaled. The scent was delicate, sweet, and somehow familiar.

"It's essence of cherry blossom," the woman told him. "Like the blossom itself, it cheers you with its presence and stays in your memory even after the season is gone. You say your woman is gentle, sweet, loyal, and beautiful. If that is true, then this will suit her just fine. And…" she took the bottle back from Saitoh and turned the bottle to show him the price marked on the back, taking the coins he placed in her hand as she continued to talk.

"As you well know, the cherry blossom is the symbol of the warrior. It symbolizes a willingness to give up one's selfish desires for the good of another. If you keep in mind that the bond between a man and his wife is just as strong as the one between a samurai and his master, you will have a happy marriage. An intelligent man already knows this. A wise man is smart enough to value this bond, as he values the woman he chooses to wed."

Somehow in the midst of taking the money, and wrapping the bottle in paper, the woman had maneuvered Saitoh to the door. "Come again sometime." she called out, and Saitoh found himself on the street outside holding a bottle of cherry blossom perfume and not entirely sure if he'd just been complimented or exhorted.

o-o-o

Kondo and Hijikata returned at last two days before the wedding. Okita took the opportunity to send Saitoh to talk to Tokio.

They stood at the edge of the temple courtyard, watching the recruits swing their swords to the shouted orders of their instructor for the day, Shinpachi.

"You have to go and ask what color kimono she's wearing."

Saitoh harrumphed. "What does that matter?" he asked Okita, his eyes following one of the recruits with bad balance. He was just about to stalk over and take the sword from him when Shinpachi beat him to it. He subsided with a smirk.

"We need to make sure the decorations at the inn match the color of her kimono. Shinpachi can't ask her. He's busy with the recruits."

Saitoh smirked again, preparing to make a disparaging remark about how Shinpachi's work was cut out for him, when Okita continued.

"How are the spy reports coming along?" Yamazaki was still away, and Saitoh was in charge of collating and assessing the information gleaned from informants. "Any good news?"

"Good information? No. I had to track down two informants myself, but they still haven't found the Ishin Shishi safehouse yet." Saitoh's eyes narrowed. One of the informants had had the temerity to be drunk when Saitoh finally tracked him down. A dunking in the local well had quickly sobered him.

"You're working too hard Saitoh-san." Okita smiled at him, then raised his voice. "Don't you think so, Kondo-san?"

Saitoh bit back a groan as the bureau chief heard his name and came over. Kondo was a large man with a broad face and big hands, the undisputed leader of the Shinsengumi.

Okita laughed. "Saitoh-san has been working really hard since you've been gone. Don't you think he deserves an afternoon off to visit his bride?"

Kondo's eyes took on an amused gleam. "Yes, I do. Go to Takagi-san's house and visit Tokio. And give my regards to her grandfather. That's an order."

Glowering, Saitoh nodded curtly and set off. When Kondo gave an order, he had to obey it. Kondo enjoyed reminding Saitoh that it was he and Tokio's grandfather who'd cooked up the betrothal.

As if Saitoh would have allowed Tokio to get away from him once her realized her true worth. He thought of the bottle of perfume hidden carefully away in his chest back at Shinsengumi Headquarters. The cherry blossom was a beautiful, delicate flower, just like Tokio.

He greeted her grandfather formally at the gate of the Takagi family compound, only to be told that Tokio had gone to visit the neighbor boys across the hills in back. Refusing Takagi's offer to allow him to wait for her, Saitoh climbed the hill and went looking.

Halfway into the tree line he heard her shriek.

Unsheathing his sword he crouched and ran through the underbrush, leaping the bushes in his way to cut down on the noise.

Another shriek split the air, this one angry. As the brush and trees fell away Saitoh came to a small clearing and halted, astonished.

In the middle of the clearing was Tokio, grasping a long stick, and hacking away at what was left of a dead tree trunk. As she whacked it over and over, she let out angry shrieks.

Wood chips went flying.

Listening intently, he realized that as she swung over and over she kept muttering. "I will get stronger for him. I will get stronger for him."

This was his delicate, gentle flower?

Saitoh resheathed his sword and folded his arms.

"Exactly what ARE you doing?" he asked in as calm a voice as he could manage.

"Oh!" Tokio whirled and dropped her makeshift bokken and stared speechlessly.

"Tokio?" Saitoh asked dangerously when she didn't reply right away. He stalked up to her, intending to ask if insanity ran in her family when she burst into tears.

"I'm not worthy to be your bride." she wailed. "Okita says you like strength and honor, and I'm trying to be strong but…" she raised her hands helplessly and he saw the line of raised blisters.

So that was why she'd been attacking the tree.

There she was, staring at him with that woebegone expression, thinking that she had to whack trees to impress him. Why on earth would she think that?

He narrowed his eyes as he searched her face. She was trying very hard to stop crying, clenching her teeth and blinking hard.

Why shouldn't she cry if she wanted to?

Saitoh stepped forward and took her in his arms. She fit nicely against him, as she buried her face in his chest. He let his chin rest on top of her head, her hair warm from the sun, and let her sob. She could use the rest. By the amount of wood chips piled around the tree, she'd been at it for quite a while. And some of those blisters on her hands were old. This wasn't her first day of practicing. It would, however, be her last. No wife of his was going to hurt her hands.

"If I wanted a paragon of strength and honor, I'd marry Hijikata or Kondo." Saitoh growled at the silly girl in his arms. "Attacking tree stumps won't turn you into them." It was a fact that made Saitoh truly thankful. The thought of marriage to the bureau chief or his crony made him shudder.

"But I want to be the type of woman you admire." she wailed into his chest.

"Don't be stupid," Saitoh told her bracingly. "I already admire you. If you changed into someone else you wouldn't be the woman I adore, you'd be someone else altogether."

Tokio pulled back a bit to look up at him. "What are you saying?" she sniffed.

"I'm saying that you're fine the way you are."

He could see in her eyes the battle between disbelief and hope. It was time to tip the scales in favor of hope. He lowered his head and slowly, deliberately, kissed her, proving his point with the efficiency and thoroughness he was known for.

Raising his head from what had been an extremely satisfactory kiss, he smirked at the expression of dazed wonder on her face and reflected that if Yamazaki's spies were half as efficient as he was they'd have the safe house and the Ishin Shishi spies giftwrapped and in jail by now.

Saitoh noticed that Tokio had remembered to breathe again. Time for some more persuading. He smirked, and lowered his face gently to hers.

Note to reviewers:

Potato-sensei – I think the pig can be whatever you want it to be. I have to admit I got the idea of the pig from PMK!

Wyrd – Good eye! And here I thought I'd caught all my mistakes. Thanks for the head's up about the capitalization error. About the typepace, I guess it depends on whatever Fictionpress allows. The contrast between TimesNewRoman and Arial is pretty easy to see. You might try that.

Finick01 – Hope this chapter meets your expectations. Putting Kenshin and Tomoe in the story was an indulgence, but I adored the OAV, especially the way Tomoe managed to disconcert Kenshin so effortlessly.

Larie-chan – I'll accept hugs (non-creepy, platonic ones!) and chocolate gladly. As for Kenshin's red hair, I figure the only thing that makes sense is that he's descended from one of the Portuguese sailors who showed up in the 1600s and introduced guns to Japan. Portugal is in Europe, so it's not inconceivable that one of them had red hair, and passed it on to his great great great great grandson! Oh, and you'll find out the fate of the piglet in chapter three.

Makoto Kanjou – Sorry the title was confusing, but I'm glad you like the story.

Senaca – Glad you liked the chapter, and you'll find out about the pig's fate in chapter three.

BakaBokken – Don't worry about being a sqealy fangirl, I've squealed at my computer lots of times while reading fanfiction. Thanks for being so sweet about the flamer, I probably should have just ignored it, but I couldn't resist the crack about the vacuum cleaner. ('You suck' is such an unimaginative flame!) Thanks too for reviewing the last chapters of "In The Wolves' Den", and for letting me know about Shinpachi – I skimmed a few episodes of PMK again and recognized him at once from your description.

WolfDaughter – You're welcome for the sequel, and the cameo appearance of Kenshin and Tomoe. I loved how she always kept Battousai/Kenshin off balance in the OAV, it always reminded me about how young he was to be an assassin. How many professional assassins today are awkward around girls?

TheOtakuKitty – I promise I won't kill Okita off in this story. Besides, I don't think he died until later in history, though he did die awfully young. Thanks for the encouragement about the flamer.

LadyWater – Ack! Sorry I added 2010 to your name! I wasn't paying attention when I typed it in!

Conspirator – Thanks for the reminder about the time interval between Ikedaya and the attack on the palace. I knew the OAV fans would jump on it, but I forgot the manga adhered more closely to the actual historical timeline. I had to laugh at your solution to the ffdotnet changes. Aku Soku Zan indeed!

Kasifya – Tokio certainly has her moments of bravery (it takes initiative to steal a pig from a greedy cook) but when she's alone she gets to doubting herself. Interesting idea about making the pig a wedding gift, but I kind of already had plans for the pig in chapter three. You'll just have to wait and find out!

Misaoshiru – Don't you just hate those changes on ffdotnet? Why did they change the ratings to T for Teen? It makes it sound like a plug for the Teen Titans! You're so kind about my sequel! I just sort of threw it together really fast once I realized people wanted a wedding. By the way, I made miso soup from scratch and it worked! I thought of you because of your name!

Lolopopoki – I had fun with the piglet scene, I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for your encouraging words about the flamer!

Jecir – Next chapter is the wedding, I promise! I didn't know there was a "Saitoh and Tokio Are Getting Married in a Kawaii Fic" happy dance, but I'm glad my story inspired you to do it!

Ayumu-in-Blue – Sure, if you'd like the pig to be the one from Peacmaker Kurogane, why not? I loved that pig!


	3. Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin characters or plot.

A/N: Warning – I stink at writing romance. I should know better, but somehow the romance came creeping through this chapter. So be prepared for an incredibly sappy ending. Those of you with saccharine allergies, beware!

Two little boys sat on the floor on the faded tatami mats covering the Takagi family's living room. The living room also doubled as the bedroom, and Tokio was rushing around throwing her last minute packing into a cloth bag, which she intended to bundle up and take with her to her new home.

The boys, Okan and Kimura, watched wide-eyed as their neighbor and favorite baby sitter rushed around like a chicken with its head cut off.

"Where is that comb? I know I used it this morning. Oh!" Tokio spied the errant comb sitting innocently on top of a chest. "There it is!" She grasped it and tossed it into the bag and then, hands on her hips, she glared around the room as if daring any of her property to get away from her.

Nodding firmly, she smiled at the two boys, kissed them both quickly on the forehead and rushed out muttering. "I hope everything I sent on ahead got there alright."

The room was oddly empty-seeming once she'd left, like the silent calm following a hurricane.

Kimura rubbed his face where Tokio had kissed him and glanced up at his older brother. "She didn't say goodbye," he said dazedly.

Okan cleared his throat gruffly. "Sure she did. She kissed us didn't she?" He touched his forehead gently and glared at Kimura.

The little boy's brow furrowed. "Do you think she'll miss us?"

"Of course. Tokio won't forget us. She'll remember to come back and visit us." The older boy said the words with forced certainty.

"I know she'll come back to visit. She'll have to." Kimura smiled broadly.

A tone in the younger child's voice caught his brother's attention. He put his hands on his hips and glared at Kimura. "What do you mean, she'll 'have to'?" he asked.

Kimura grinned. "I gave her a going-away present. I stuck it in her bag when she wasn't looking, so she'll have to come back to say 'thank you'!"

Okan's eyes grew large with trepidation. "Kimura," he began in a deceptively calm voice. "What did you put in her bag?"

The little boy grinned. "The piglet, of course!"

o-o-o

Tokio and her grandfather arrived at the Shinto shrine, after passing under the three wood torii gates leading to its entrance. The torii were set at intervals along the path leading to the shrine with its steeply pitched thatch roof towering above its cedar walls. Usually Tokio would have stopped to look at the three freestanding doorpost-like structures, but today she was too excited.

The keeper of the shrine welcomed them and led Tokio to a small room off to the side to allow her to get ready.

Reverently, Tokio undid one of two bundles she'd brought from home, and took out the large paper envelope containing her wedding kimono. It was ice blue. Little pink and red cherry blossoms branches with small birds perched here and there were embroidered into the fabric. Tokio liked sewing, and had enjoyed plotting out how much space to allot to each branch. She'd barely managed to finish the kimono in time, what with the other sewing projects she'd had to complete before she could move out of grandfather's house in good conscience.

Smiling happily, she removed the kimono from its paper container and put her shoulders through the sleeves. Looping the tie around her waist, she adjusted the length and let the excess fabric fall over the tie, then reached for her other ties and sashes that would comprise her obi, the broad band that tied around her waist. It was difficult, but she managed to create a presentable knot in back.

Her hair was already arranged, swept up off her forehead and secured by a decorated comb. She'd done that at home, but now it was time for her bridal hat, made out of crisp white fabric.

Kneeling down over the second bundle she'd brought with her, Tokio undid the knot which held the bag's handles together and pulled the mouth of the bag open, then let out a shriek that could have shattered glass.

Nestled in the concave portion of her hat where her head was supposed to go lay a sleeping piglet, surrounded by little muddy piglet footprints where he'd evidently trotted about the hat before finding a comfy spot to lie down.

The smell of muddy pig wafted up from the bag. Tokio whimpered, and lifted the sleepy pig out, holding it in one hand and her smelly, dirty-on-the-inside hat in the other. What more could go wrong?

o-o-o

Saitoh heard Tokio cry out and rushed to the doorway of the room where she was getting ready.

His gaze swept the small enclosed area in a heartbeat, searching for threats, and finding none.

There was only Tokio, his bride, holding a slightly misshapen hat in one hand and in the other…

She quickly dropped her other hand into the bag at her feet, rose and stepped in front of it. Hmm. Must have been some arcane female article of clothing she was embarrassed to let him see. Her face was pink with blushes and she stared at him wide-eyed with surprise.

"Saitoh-san, what are you doing here?" she asked, holding the hat in both hands in front of her, like a shield.

"You screamed." Didn't she know that whenever she was in trouble he'd be there? This marriage business could end up being a little more complicated than he'd thought. He and Tokio would have to get to know one another, or rather she'd have to learn to trust him. Their first meeting hadn't exactly been auspicious. He'd caught her breaking into Shinsengumi Headquarters and had scared her so badly that she'd fainted.

"Oh," she said softly, and glanced down at her hat.

"That. I just found out that some, er, animal got into my hat at home and now it's ruined." She sniffed and stared at the offending article. "I wanted to look perfect for you."

Saitoh had an overwhelming urge to gatotsu the hat for making his Tokio unhappy, but he forced it down and stepped forward, taking it gently from her hand, and examining it.

"The dirt is dry," he told her, and brushed it off the fabric and onto the floor. "No one will see the inside. You can still wear it." There. Problem solved. Maybe being a husband wasn't so hard after all.

"It…smells." Tokio said sadly.

An idea came to Saitoh. He'd meant to save it for later, but being flexible was part of being a good Shinsengumi officer. Handing the hat back to Tokio, he reached into his kimono sleeve and brought out the small, paper wrapped bottle he'd bought at the perfume shop.

"Here. Use this." He said gruffly, and handed it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, eyebrows quirked upward.

"Perfume." came his terse reply.

Her eyes lighted up like clouds bathed in the glow of a particularly sensational sunset. "How did you know I'd need this?"

Saitoh allowed himself a smirk. "I'm to be your husband, Tokio. I'll always know what you need."

o-o-o

And so, in a cloud of cherry blossom scent, Tokio and Saitoh were married. The ceremony passed in a blur. They exchanged the three times three sips of sake from the nuptial cups, and offered the twigs of sakaki to the gods in the shrine's main sanctuary, then thanked the Shinto priest and proceeded with Tokio's grandfather to the inn where the rest of the Shinsengumi officers awaited them.

The inn was gaily decorated with lighted paper lanterns on the outside and candles in colored paper cones on the inside. In the main dining room an older woman who looked so like the innkeeper that she couldn't be anyone other than his mother, sat in the corner playing a moon guitar. A boy sat with her accompanying her with a flute.

Two rows of short, footed, black lacquer trays faced each other up and down both sides of the room. Shinsengumi personnel in civilian clothes sat at them and laughingly exchanged jokes and good-natured barbs. At the head of the two rows, near the far wall was a shorter row of empty trays.

Tokio blushed and clutched her bag, the one containing the sleeping piglet, closer to her as she realized the seats of honor were reserved for the wedding party. She sat down at a tray at the end of the short row, with Saitoh and her grandfather on her right, and placed the bag down by the tray on her left, praying that the pig remained asleep. Smiling widely at Okita, who sat at the head of the long row of trays that ended near her tray, she pushed the bag partway under the concealing lacquer square.

By the sound of hilarity ringing through the room, Tokio figured that the Shinsengumi had already opened a bottle of sake before they arrived, but now that the guests of honor were there, it was time to eat.

The beautiful girl Tokio had seen in the inn's backyard entered the dining hall and ladled rice into bowls on the trays as the two kitchen maids served grilled fish, noodles, and assorted vegetable dishes.

Tokio glanced around the room. These were her husband's comrades. She recognized Okita, sitting nearest to her at the head of the row of trays to her left, and Kondo and Hijikata, sitting near her grandfather at the head of the row of trays on her right, but nearly everyone else was a stranger to her.

Then she caught Saitoh's eye and smiled shyly. What did it matter if she didn't know most of them? They were here because they were Saitoh's friends, and she was his wife. That meant that they were her friends too.

The cook entered the room carrying a tray, which he brought to the head table and presented to Saitoh with a flourish. "Roast pig, Edo style sir, for your wedding day," he intoned.

There was a squeal, and a little pink bundle of energy whipped out from under Tokio's tray and attacked the cook's ankles.

Tokio froze. It was the piglet.

The cook cursed roundly, causing several of the more inebriated Shinsengumi members to nod approvingly at his creative word combinations.

Scowling, the man stopped swearing long enough to set the tray down and turn an evil eye on the small pig attempting to bite his ankles.

Nearly snapping her chopsticks, Tokio clenched her fist and leaned forward in distress. This was all her fault! The pig was doomed. She never should have tried to hide him from Saitoh, and now after all her hard work, the pig was about to be captured. She couldn't let that happen, but if she tried to stop the cook she'd have to explain that she'd stolen the piglet in the first place. If Saitoh discovered she was a thief he'd never forgive her.

Tokio watched, helpless, as the cook reached out towards the pig, eyes narrowed, and said, "I don't know how you've hidden from me for so long, but it's the pickle pot for you, you little escape artist."

o-o-o

Saitoh was more amused than shocked by the cook's language, but Tokio was a gently brought up young lady. He glanced at her to see her reaction, and was surprised to see that she was leaning forward, mouth parted and eyes worried.

She was looking at the pig, which was, if Saitoh wasn't mistaken, growling like a dog and attempting to bite the cook.

When the cook reached for the pig, Tokio dropped her chopsticks and cried out, "No wait! That's not your pig! It's….it's…."

"Mine!" Okita's boyish voice called out as he leaned over his own lacquer tray and snatched the pig to his chest, just as the cook's fingers were about to close over the little pink animal.

As Saitoh watched, Okita shoved the piglet into the neckline of his gi and turned a smiling face to the cook. "It's my pet pig," he told the older man, blithely ignoring the cook's consternation. The pig glanced up at Okita with what could only be described as piggy astonishment, and grunted.

The man glared at Okita, glared at Tokio, started to glare at Saitoh, paused mid-glare, thought better of it, turned around and stomped out of the room leaving the tray on the floor.

"Hey, it's Edo style pork!" hollered Shinpachi and reached sideways over his tray, nearly falling into Hijikata's lap, to snag it. "Tokio, you've got to come over here and get some of this!" he yelled over the din.

She glanced at Saitoh, and he nodded to her to go. That idiot Shinpachi wouldn't shut up until he'd shared his favorite dish with everyone, but at least he wasn't too drunk to remember that this was a wedding celebration, and that Saitoh's bride should be given every courtesy. He watched his wife rise gracefully to her feet and walk over behind Kondo and Hijikata to where Shinpachi was extolling the virtues of Edo cooking styles.

That was when Saitoh remembered Okita telling him about his visit to the inn a few weeks ago, and how fascinated Tokio had been when the pig gave birth. Everything clicked into place.

He leaned to his left and growled, sotto voice, at Okita, "I'll thank you to let me rescue my own wife from now on."

Okita grinned. "Gladly!" he laughed. "But I don't think having you decapitate the cook would have added much to the festivities. Just consider this a wedding gift."

He grinned widely and turned to Harada Sanosuke who was seated on his left and asking in drunken curiosity when Okita had procured himself a pet pig.

Tokio returned with a bowl full of roast pig and set it as far away from herself as she could at the edge of her tray. She drew her hand back from the bowl, looked at him timidly, and swallowed.

He stared back, making sure that his face was impassive. It wouldn't do to laugh at her. Women tended to react badly when you laughed at them, so he kept his expression even.

"I'm sorry, Saitoh-san. I can explain," she began.

"There's no need." Saitoh was particularly proud of the way he kept his voice steady, without a trace of laughter in it, though he was nearly shaking with it inside.

"You're not terribly angry, are you?" Her question ended on a high, quavering note.

Saitoh blinked, astonished. She'd rescued a baby pig, proving she was tenderhearted as well as quick-witted. Tokio was truly a good woman, and an intelligent one, yet she thought that he'd be angry.

He flashed back to his thoughts before the wedding, and realized that marriage was indeed a difficult job. Tokio honestly didn't realize what a wonderful girl she was. She really didn't know. He'd have to convince her. If it took the rest of his life, he would prove to her that she was the most precious, cherished, worthy bride on the face of the earth.

Squaring his shoulders, he opened his mouth to speak when all of a sudden a man appeared in the doorway of the dining room.

Saitoh recognized him immediately, and glared. It was that fool of an informant he'd met with at the noodle bar. The man glanced around the room and saw Saitoh, catching his eye deliberately.

Sighing inwardly, he changed the words he was about to say and leaned over to whisper in Tokio's ear, "I'll be back in a minute." Then he got up and walked unobtrusively around Shinpachi's side of the row of trays and joined the spy, stalking past him into the darkened corridor outside.

The spy stared up at him, wide-eyed with what looked liked astonished admiration. "They told me at Shinsengumi Headquarters that you were here. How did you know?"

"Know what?" asked Saitoh impatiently. When Yamazaki Susumu finally returned from Aizu, Saitoh fully intended to give him a piece of his mind about letting spies crash wedding parties.

"That this is an Ishin Shishi Inn." The spy said blankly.

The corridor whirled for an instant while Saitoh assimilated the information. In that second, he knew what he had to do.

"Of course I did. It's why I decided to have the party here. However, since you're here, you might as well be of some use to me. Go to the back gate of the inn. I intend to flush out the main ringleader."

"Do you want me to capture him?" asked the informant, eyes gleaming in the half-light spilling out into the corridor from the noisy dining hall.

"No!" Saitoh answered sharply. "That would defeat the purpose of my plan. I want you to follow whoever leaves by the back exit. Don't let him see you, but follow him however far he goes, even if it's to the end of Japan. Once he arrives, note who he talks to, and where he stays, then report back to Shinsengumi Headquarters, but don't leave until you find out as much as you can about everyone he talks to. If you return without enough information, you'll answer to Yamazaki's boss, Hijikata."

Throughout the instructions, the spy's posture grew straighter and straighter until his backbone was like an iron spike and he was standing at attention. "Yes, sir, Saitoh-san. I will not fail you." The spy looked both ways down the corridor, and slunk off towards the inn's front entrance.

Saitoh watched him go with a smirk. Yamazaki's spies really were stupid. He'd bought the story hook, line, and sinker.

Now for part two of his plan. Saitoh glanced longingly back at the bright lights and noisy din coming from the room where his bride and his friends waited for him, then turned his back and strode determinedly down the corridor, to find a back way into the kitchen.

A scent of white plum blossoms and a ghostly white form appeared at the end of the corridor. It was one of the serving girls, carrying a jug of sake.

"Good evening sir," she said politely as she came close.

He stopped, and in doing so, blocked her passage. Tilting her head, she looked up at him calmly, a hint of a question in her posture.

"Do you work here?" he asked.

"No sir. My mistress sent me over to help out. She heard that there was a wedding celebration tonight." The girl's voice was calm, measured. She probably hadn't realized that the wedding guests were all Shinsengumi officers. Even if she had, there was something almost frozen about the girl, as though it would take a lot to faze her.

"Is there a way to the kitchen through here?"

"Yes." She nodded and pointed back the way she'd come. "It's just down there. Is there anything else?"

"No. You can go," he told her, and continued down the corridor. Skin that pale wasn't healthy, Saitoh reflected absently. His grandmother always said that those who looked pale as death were destined for an early one. Shaking off the memory, he narrowed his eyes as the sound of a furious, whispered conversation from the kitchen began to get more and more clear as he approached.

"Are you crazy? What do you think you were doing, trying to get them angry over a pig? They're the Shinsengumi!" The innkeeper hissed furiously just as Saitoh gained the doorway to the kitchen.

The innkeeper and cook, who were standing in the middle of the kitchen leaning toward each other with angry expressions, jumped back from each other like lovers in a goodnight kiss caught by their parents. Two pairs of guilty eyes stared, astonished, at Saitoh.

"It's my wedding day." Saitoh informed them in a low, dangerous voice. "I would really dislike having to kill anyone on my wedding day."

The innkeeper gulped audibly and clutched his kimono fabric in his hands.

The cook, an ugly man, began to babble. "I've only worked her for a month. I don't know anything about anything."

Saitoh realized that Okita was right when he'd told Saitoh that he thought the cook had a Northern accent. Saitoh realized that the cook had to be from Hokkaido, the far island off the tip of Japan's main island.

Okita, who loved to tell stories, had regaled Saitoh with the tale of the Visit To The Inn in great detail, even going so far as to laugh at the cook from the North who derided Kyoto's country folk for distrusting Edo cooking methods, yet believed so firmly in his own Northern superstitions that he refused to slaughter a pregnant pig for fear of bad luck. One thing Okita hadn't told him was that Tokio had taken one of the piglets. For all his status as a Shinsengumi captain, Okita was still just a mischievous boy at heart.

Saitoh realized that the cook was still babbling, and the innkeeper was trying to surreptitiously kick him in the shins to shut him up. Saitoh smiled. He knew a far more effective way to quiet the annoying man.

He let his smile widen mirthlessly and his eyes narrow to feral slits. The cook stopped mid-word. Saitoh smirked inside. That particular expression did it every time.

"You have one chance to live. I'll give you five minutes to pack your belongings and go back to Hokkaido."

The cook stared, mouth agape. "How did you know I came from…?" He trailed off when he noticed Saitoh's unnerving smile had disappeared and an even more unnerving cold glare masked his features.

"Go now and live, or stay and die, but do not say another word."

The cook wisely turned and fled.

"What about me?" the innkeeper squeaked in a very high, frightened, voice. "Can I go too?"

Saitoh turned his glare on the fussy little man. "No. You stay and finish serving the party. I expect excellent service. By tomorrow at this time, the inn will be empty and you will be gone. Is that clear?"

The innkeeper nodded so vehemently that Saitoh was surprised his head didn't fall off. By the time the informant got back from following the cook on a wild goose chase, the inn would merely be an old Ishin Shishi hideout, no longer used and no longer important. Saitoh could only hope that no one would connect his wedding reception to the name of an inn in a spy's report months from now. If Yamazaki or Hijikata ever asked why he'd sent the spy to Hokkaido, he could always say the spy must have misunderstood his instructions. It was no secret that Saitoh harbored nothing but contempt for the inept way Yamazaki ran his spy ring.

Saitoh hoped for the spy's sake that he'd brought cash with him. Unless Saitoh was mistaken, the cook was about to take off like a bat fleeing the demon realm for Hokkaido, and Saitoh didn't think the spy would have much time to pick up any spare cash for traveling expenses. Hmm. Perhaps the journey would teach him to use some initiative. He'd have to or he'd starve. Either way Saitoh would have rid the Shinsengumi's ranks of an inept spy or brought back a more effective operative.

Saitoh gave the innkeeper a last glare, then wheeled about and returned to his wedding reception. Three quarters of the way down the corridor he found his bride standing in the light from the doorway, talking to the girl who smelled of plum blossoms.

His eyes were now fully accustomed to the corridor's gloom and he saw the girl's back stiffen slightly as he approached.

"My best wishes for your life together," the girl said to Tokio before she bowed and walked serenely past Saitoh, her ghostlike shape disappearing down the corridor.

Tokio's smile, a response to the girl's words, began to fade slightly when Saitoh came to a stop in front of her. He saw that she was holding something in her hands. It was cloth. He only hoped it wasn't concealing something.

"Is that the pig?" he asked, resigning himself to a life with a pet pig if she said yes.

"This?" she glanced down at the cloth. "No, no it's not the pig." Tokio gave a little laugh as she smoothed the cloth in her hands. "Okita's adopted the pig. He's named it Saizou. This is for you." She looked back up at him and held out the cloth.

He took it and unfolded it. It was a grey rectangle made of sturdy material, with two long cords dangling from a flap at the top. On the flap were two small embroidered circles.

"It's a sword bag. It's to protect your sword when you're not using it."

She laughed again nervously. "I've decided not to attack any more trees." She stopped a moment, collected herself, and stared up at him earnestly. "I trust you to protect me with your sword, so it only seemed fair that I give you something to protect it."

Saitoh's breath caught in his throat. If he had searched the length and breadth of Japan he could not have found a better mate. He ran his thumb over the embroidery and tilted the fabric towards the light from the doorway.

Noticing him looking at it, Tokio stepped in closer and pointed at the two circles. "They're wolves." She told him softly. "Okita told me they sometimes call the Shinsengumi the Wolves of Mibu. He said you kind of liked the nickname. I'm sorry I only had time to sew two."

Her simple words just about undid him. He cleared his throat, unable to find the right words to tell her how perfect the gift was, and how little she had to apologize. There were other ways to show his appreciation, but it wouldn't do to grab his wife and ravish her in an inn corridor to show her exactly how much this gift meant to him.

"You're not still angry at me about the pig, are you?" she asked in a small voice.

He realized he'd been staring at the two little wolves she'd sewn on the sword bag. Two little wolves of Mibu. For starting a family, two seemed like a very good number. Saitoh allowed an amused, possessive smile to play across his lips as he looked at Tokio. "Do I look like I'm angry, wife?" he asked softly, pitching his voice low, not with the promise of danger, but of something else entirely.

She tilted her head and stared up at him wonderingly. "No, you don't look angry at all. You look…oh!" she ended faintly and blushed as he allowed his true feelings to show on his face.

He could spend the rest of his life watching Tokio, but right now with her eyes soft with love and longing, and her cheeks pink, he didn't think she could ever be more adorable than she was at this moment.

Pulling his wife into his arms, he gave in to the temptation to kiss her breathless. Somewhere in the course of the kiss, her hat fell off and the scent of cherry blossoms wafted up until it seemed almost as if they were kissing in the spring in one of those clouds of falling petals that floated down whenever the wind blew, and scented the air all around. No matter what the future held for the Shinsengumi or for Japan, Saitoh knew he would always have the memory of the scent of cherry blossoms, a scent that would always be uniquely Tokio.

THE END.

A/N: I give in! The pig is indeed Saizou from Peacemaker Kurogane, though the Okita portrayed here is wholly Watsuki's Okita from Rurouni Kenshin. I hope everyone enjoyed the sequel to "In The Wolves' Den" because this is it! No more sequels! I refuse to follow Tokio and Saitoh on their honeymoon! It was hard enough writing the rather tame mushy stuff in this one!

Note to Reviewers:

Green Eyed Floozy – Thanks for the review, and I'm glad you laughed at my silly story!

Senaca – No problem on the update, and I hope you liked the ending!

Lady Water – Sorry for the confusion over your name (I'm easily confused). I think your ffdotnet name is really pretty. My pen-name is just too dang long, due to confusion over email address vs. pen name when I set up my ffdotnet account! Hope you liked the wedding.

The Otaku Kitty – You're welcome for the story and I WANT PLUSHIES TOO! Do they make an Okita one?

Ayumu in Blue – You're right about cherry blossoms being sad! They were the symbol of the samurai because they fell off the cherry tree so easily and died. Samurai were supposed to be willing to give their lives for their daimyo as effortlessly as a cherry blossom falling off the tree. I guess you had to be really committed to dying for your daimyo for seppuku to work. Thanks for all your nice reviews!

Child of Draco – Thanks for calling my story "Kawaii" and for reading/reviewing it!

Cezy Angel – I had fun writing Saitoh as the possessive sort. He is, after all, a 'wolf of Mibu' and wolves mate for life, so I figured he'd be growly and protectionistic towards his bride to be.

Sai Orlianna – I'm glad you enjoyed chapter two, and I hope you like the ending as well.

Jecir – Hope you liked the wedding! There was some silliness, but I tried to make it at least slightly believable. Thanks for your reviews!

Trinity – Thanks for the favorable review! I'll have to check out "Hajime and Tokio," it sounds really good. As for the pre-wedding mushy stuff, sorry it was puzzling. Actually, in the Western world kissing was considered shocking before an engagement, but in Japan courtship rituals were…ah…different. I was shocked to discover that in ancient times courtship rituals included the Muko-iri or nightly visits by the prospective bridegroom to the bride, and marriage only occurred after the parents officially accepted him as their son in law, or the bride to be got pregnant! Pre-marital fooling around wasn't exactly unheard of, as girls were often sold by their families into brothels to become prostitutes for a certain period of time, then returned to the village to be married off to whoever their father wanted. Marriage was more for political or financial reasons than love, and divorce was ridiculously easy – the husband wrote a three line letter and sent the wife back to her parents. Remarriage was common. The real Saitoh wed the daughter of an Aizu Daimyo, and he may not have even met her before the wedding! As for Watsuki's Saitoh, he may be a cold fish to everyone else, but I figured that with a wife he trusted he'd be able to unbend a little. And even in the anime series, he might have appeared cold, yet he refrained from killing Sanosuke, and rescued Eiji (the little boy from the village) so he does have a compassionate, protective side as well.

Wyrd – I hope this chapter answered your questions about the pig! Saitoh later proves he's a better spy when he joins the police force in the anime series. To answer your question, the superstitions are all made up. I couldn't find a good source for Japanese superstitions! Your welcome for the review for your story, and I hope you update again soon!

Fearna – You noticed! Yes, the mention of plum blossom scent was indeed a reference to Tokio. I always wondered why in the OAV "Trust and Betrayal" Saito even noticed the scent of Plum Blossoms when Kenshin and Tokio retreated from the Ikedaya fiasco, so I figured I'd introduce him to it in my story.

Misaoshiru – You inherited a love of puns from your dad? I inherited the talkative gene from mine! Have you ever cooked anything besides soup with miso paste? I'm starting to use it as a marinade for fish, and it's come out great so far.

Potato-sensei – I couldn't help but admire your comments on Tokio and Saito. I've seen successful marriages with both – husband and wives with things in common, and husbands and wives who are complete opposites. As for how my Tokio and Saitoh's marriage pans out, I'll let you decide!

Conspirator – Yep, I've had lots of fun coming up with Saitoh-esque comments. I hope you liked the ones in this chapter too.

Larie-chan – Thanks for the two muses! I can use the inspiration. Speaking of inspiration, I got the idea for a blind perfume saleswoman when I realized that normal shopkeepers would be too terrified of the Shinsengumi to be able to speak coherently, so I came up with one who couldn't see the uniform. Plus, you don't have to see to mix perfume, so it would be a perfect job for a blind person. Glad you liked the kiss – I tried to be clever instead of graphic about it when I described it. I'm horrible at writing romance, but I'd die of embarrassment if I ever tried to write a lemon, so you'll never get anything too graphic in my stories.

BakaBokken – I had to laugh when you told me someone accused you of plagiarism because you posted your story on another website! You think they'd have noticed that both stories had the same author! I'm glad the tree-bashing incident amused you! I had lots of fun writing it. I hope this chapter was satisfying. I'm a sucker for romance too, but not that good at writing it.

Lolo popoki – Soba noodles are great! I figured Saitoh would know how to cook them, and being Saitoh, consider himself the best qualified person for teaching Tokio how to cook them.

Miburo kid – I love the Okita from Watsuki's Rurouni Kenshin series, but I must admit I have a soft spot for the pig from Peacemaker Kurogane, so I included him, thanks to suggestions from reviewers like you. I hope you liked my take on how Okita got his pig!


End file.
